Luis Moto: A BMW R nineT scrambler, Italian Style

If rumors of BMW’s new R nineT-based scrambler have you foaming at the mouth, but you’re the impatient type—Luis Bertelli has the answer.

He’s reworked the R nineT into a modern replica of the quintessential BMW scrambler, the R80G/S Paris Dakar. And he’s done it in spectacular fashion; if we were sitting in Munich right now, we’d be taking notes.

Luis operates as Luis Moto out of Pisa, Italy, where he customizes bikes and sells custom parts. So everything you see here is (or will soon be) available on his online store. That’s good news if you’ve got an R nineT in the garage—and a soft spot for old dirt-biased boxers.

G/S aficionados will immediately spot the R nineT’s more obvious Paris Dakar-inspired cues: like the red seat, black knee indents and tank graphics. (Which, by the way, have been painted rather than stuck on.)

But Luis’ mods go beyond just a few splashes of color. There’s a neat grill covering the stock headlight—which is mounted on a bracket designed to dampen vibration. And there’s a carbon fiber number board that acts as a shroud to conceal the slightly bulky clocks.

The aluminum front fender and brace are new too, and will be available unpainted or polished. And out back, Luis has constructed a rear fender that runs over the stock frame. It’s been designed to give the tail a shorter feel without the need to cut or weld anything. Mounted on it is Lucas-style tail light with a license plate bracket.

The seat’s covered in a leather that’s been dyed at the tannery itself, to be as close to the original G/S red as possible. (Luis also plans to produce it in brown and black.) Rounding off the back half of the bike are a pair of aluminum side panels, which will be reproduced in carbon fiber for public consumption.

Aside from a new paint job, the R nineT fuel tank has been left alone. Luis removed the stock airbox snorkel from the right side though—citing weight, aesthetics and performance as his reasons. In its place is a slim carbon fiber plate, painted white to match the tank.

Running up the left hand side of the bike is a full stainless steel, two-into-one exhaust system. It exits high, but runs inside the frame at the back to avoid creating extra bulk. Luis says he’ll be offering it as a fully customizable system, with multiple finishes and configurations to choose from—including an optional dB killer.

To get the final color scheme just right, Luis had a bunch of smaller parts redone in wrinkle black, including the headlight, triple clamps, fork lowers and instrument trim.

Finishing off the build kit are a set of dirt-bike handlebars, adjustable billet aluminum levers, and a pair of Metzeler Karoo tires.

If BMW’s new scrambler looks half as good as this, we’re in for a treat.